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Last week the U. S. Senate acted to continue the moratorium on Medicaid Rules that would have cost Lee Memorial Health System $24 million.This Congressional action was part of the domestic spending amendment to the Iraq supplemental bill already passed by the House on June 19. The bill now goes to the President for signature.

For more than a year, the Congress has suspended new Medicaid Rules that would have cut an estimated $3.87 billion from Medicaid services over the next five years. Earlier this year, Lee Memorial Health System joined other safety-net hospitals that provide critical indigent care to successfully challenge the way these rules were imposed.

The rule that relates to public hospitals is of most concern to LMHS. Should it ever go into effect, Medicaid funds could no longer be used to support hospitals that provide care to high numbers of uninsured. Currently LMHS is providing as much care to the uninsured as it is to Medicaid patients. The rule would limit our ability to provide essential but costly safety-net specialty care, including trauma services and neonatal intensive care (NICU). LMHS provides the only Trauma Center and the only comprehensive Children’s Hospital between Tampa and Miami.

“We are grateful for the support of Florida Senators Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson, as well as Congressman Connie Mack, who supported the inclusion of the Medicaid moratorium in this legislation,” said Jim Nathan, LMHS President. “We will continue to work with our leaders in Washington D.C. to find workable solutions to the long-term viability of healthcare for our community.”